1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to surgical apparatuses for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as endoscopic and/or laparoscopic procedures, and more particularly, relates to a surgical apparatus that allows multiple surgical instruments to be inserted through a single incision.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, many surgical procedures are performed through small incisions in the skin, as compared to large incisions that are typically required in traditional procedures, in an effort to reduce trauma to the patient and reduce the patient's recovery time. Generally, such procedures are referred to as “endoscopic”, unless performed on the patient's abdomen, in which case the procedure is referred to as “laparoscopic.” Throughout the present disclosure, the term “minimally invasive” should be understood to encompass both endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures.
During a typical minimally invasive procedure, surgical objects, such as endoscopes, graspers, staplers and forceps, are inserted into the patient's body through the incision in tissue. In general, prior to the introduction of the surgical object into the patient's body, insufflation gas is supplied to the target surgical site to enlarge its surrounding area and create a larger, more accessible work area. Accordingly, a substantially fluid-tight seal is desirable to inhibit the escape of the insufflation gas and avoid the deflation or collapse of the enlarged surgical site.
Different patients have different tissue thicknesses. Generally, access devices of different lengths are supplied in order to meet patients' various demands based on their various tissue thicknesses. Such prior access devices have numerous disadvantages both from the standpoint of design as well as from the standpoint of availability of use.
From the design perspective, no one single prior access device is universally suitable for tissues having different thicknesses. In the prior art, each access device is designed in contemplation of a tissue having a particular thickness. Thus, access devices of different lengths have to be designed and supplied in order to accommodate patients with different needs based on their tissue thicknesses.
In the use of prior access devices, patient's tissue thickness needs to be assessed before performing a minimally invasive procedure. After assessing the tissue thickness and before performing the procedure, an access device having a length suitable for the patient's tissue thickness is selected. An error made in the assessment may lead to consequences adversely impacting the procedure. For instance, if the assessment underestimates the patent's tissue thickness, then an access device having a length less than the patient's tissue thickness is selected. On the other hand, if the assessment overestimates the patient's thickness, an access device of a length greater than the patient's tissue thickness is selected. In both scenarios, the selected access devices cannot be stabilized within the patient's incision, thus are inadequate for the procedure.
Therefore, to avoid the need of designing and supplying access devices of different lengths, to preclude the need of assessing tissue thickness, and to avoid unnecessary problems caused by erroneous assessments, it is desirable to have a single access device that can be configured to different lengths, such that the single access device can be suitable for tissues having different thicknesses.